Who knows what week of lockdown it is anymore – for foodies, time is now measured in the minutes before the takeaway arrives and how long you should proof a sourdough.
There is, however, an end in sight. As Boris Johnson announced this week that pubs, bars and restaurants will reopen in England from July 4, those lucid lockdown dreams of our first dinner back in the wild look like they might come true pretty soon.
But where to go? And what to eat? Since the beginning of lockdown, London's Instagrammers have not only been inspiring us to cook (and order takeaway), but have been reminding us how many great restaurants are out there in the capital.
From recipes, tips and tutorials to sumptuous snaps of food deliveries, top notch produce and restaurant throwbacks, London’s foodie Instagrammers have been offering ample mouth-watering fodder to encourage you to spice up your life.
For brilliant baking, quarantine-ready cocktails, towering dirty burgers and vibrant vegan spreads, check this page out every week to find your newest food guru.
@xandwich.etc – 20.8k followers
Who?
The man putting the X factor into London’s sandwich scene is Xander Fletcher – by day he is an account manager at Innocent Drinks, by night (and during lunchtime) he is “the Xandwich”. Fletcher has spent the last four years diligently tasting and rating London’s finest (and less fine) sarnies, posting his photos and thoughts on his Instagram account. These days, he’s branching out a little to showcase more of the London chefs and restaurants he loves – recently renaming his account “xandwich.etc” – so expect to see a more diverse form of carbs from now on.
Why follow?
As we all know, a sandwich is not just your bread and butter. It can be a full meal and more – particularly if you count burgers, shawarma wraps, sandos, bagels and more into the mix. Fletcher does just that, shooting sandwiches that range from a half-filled Tesco “Chicken No Mayonnaise” (0/10) to the lobster and crayfish roll from Bob’s Lobster (7.5/10), the steak sarnie from Blacklock (8.5/10) and the practically perfect chicken “s+dwich” from Sons + Daughters (10/10).
Along with ratings, he gives his honest opinions too. When reviewing the famed and much-loved salt beef bagel from Brick Lane’s Beigel Bake (7/10), Fletcher admits that while he “liked it a lot; I didn’t love it” – brave words if ever we heard them. On the flipside, while he acknowledges the hype around Sons + Daughters from the team behind Pidgin, he’s very happy to say that he was “impressed enough to award a perfect score and to book in again this Thursday to devour more from the menu.”
Shortly before lockdown – and as the London restaurant industry was on the precipice of its biggest crisis in living memory – Fletcher decided to shake things up a bit. Having seen many of his street food favourites head to bricks-and-mortar sites, he’s been posting more and more of his wider foodie favourites. Recently he's been reminiscing over roasts at the Coal Shed, pre-theatre meals at Cora Pearl and tacos at Temper. He’s still got a soft spot for a sandwich though – this week he’s tried Dishoom’s DIY bacon naan kit and a fully loaded fried chicken burger from James Cochran’s Around The Cluck.
What we love
Sarnies to salivate over, and much more on the horizon.
